Andrew Lloyd Webber announced on Monday (7th July) he would be reviving his hit 1981 musical Cats. The composer announced the musical would be at the London Palladium for a limited 12 week run beginning in early December 2014. The musical has not been on stage in London for twelve years so it is something of a homecoming run.

Cats
Andrew Lloyd Webber with some of the cast of Cats at the London Palladium launch on Monday (7th July).

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Speaking at the launch event of the hit musical, held at the London Palladium, Lloyd Webber said "I think it's just a great opportunity for us to get a second edition, with this show I think it would be great just to have a go at it again and give it a bit of a rethink." 

In fact, Lloyd Webber has entirely rewritten 'Growltiger's Last Stand' which now features a rapping cat. As the BBC reports, Lloyd Webber said "I've come to the conclusion having re-read Eliot, that maybe Eliot was the inventor of rap." 

It seems Cats may not be the only show of Lloyd Webber's - which include the likes of Evita, Phantom of the Opera, and Starlight Express - which he may consider revising. As Reuters reports, at the event he said "Yes I think it's very possible that I might have a look at one or two of my shows."

Cats
Cats has not been seen in London for 12 years.

Lloyd Webber also alluded to the possibility of Cats being made into a film. Evita, Lloyd Webber's 1978 rock opera, was made into a film in 1996 starring Madonna in the title role. Cats does exist, similarly to Joseph and his Technicolor Dreamcoat and Jesus Christ Superstar, as a film but it is simply a slightly more evolved recording of the stage production.

Of the possibility of Cats become a movie, Lloyd Webber said "Of course, the other thing that's happening is them being made into movies. There is considerable talk at last about Cats being made into a movie so it gives me a chance to think about the material and how that can happen."

Cats is based on poet T.S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book Of Practical Cats and features many lines from his famous work. The musical surrounds a meeting of Jellicle Cats who decide who amongst them should ascend to the Heaviside Layer, a sort of cat heaven, in order to be reborn. A number of characters from Eliot's poems appear including Bustopher Jones, Old Deuteronomy and the outrageous Rum Tum Tugger. 

See More Pictures From The Launch Of Cats. 

Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber has been responsible for many hit musicals including Cats, Evita and Jesus Christ Superstar.